Niobe's Tears
by AliceOfCakes
Summary: May, a college student, just can't be bothered to care. It takes her best friend, four completely different boys, a school year full of drama, and her new Geology teacher to get her heart to feel. - StevenMay
1. Chapter 1

**_\- prologue -_**

She was soaking wet from the rain, and she knew she'd be sick tomorrow if she stayed outside for any longer.

She stood still.

"Arceus," she said, forcing the word out through gritted teeth. "Can't you just leave me alone?"

He was equally soaked, but he stood his ground, just like her. The deluge of rain was the only sound that she could hear.

"I won't," he replied. "I never will."

She sank to her knees, cradling her head in her hands. "Arceus," she said again, whispering this time. "You're making this so much harder than it has to be."

* * *

"I'm going out with Lucas tonight," said Dawn. She was seated at the little vanity she'd brought all the way from her mansion in Sinnoh. May watched idly as she expertly applied mascara – she used to ask her where'd she learned to do that, and Dawn would always reply that she learned it all from an online idol, Cynthia – "I swear to Arceus, May, the way that woman applies eyeshadow is practically _pornographic_."

"Don't you want to come?" Dawn asked, setting the brush down. She turned to May, briefly, before looking back at the mirror. "Drew might be there, you know."

" _No_ ," said May. "I need to finish my History essay. And why mention Drew in the first place?"

"Plenty of reasons," replied Dawn, moving onto eyeshadow (dusky layers, like Cynthia always did). "Mostly because we all know that Drew likes staring down your shirt whenever he can get the chance."

"Gross."

It was a Saturday night, and May was probably the only one staying in their dorm that night. She and Dawn were probably the only ones still in the dorm at all. But it was just as well. She'd probably complain all night if Dawn brought her anywhere inhabited by more than ten people ("I swear to Mew, Dawn, _nothing_ in this whole Arceus-forsaken establishment is hygienic. _Nothing_.")

" _Do_ you like Drew?" asked Dawn. She turned again in her seat to look at May. She was wearing a little white dress, navy blue tights, and black leather boots. The tights were actually May's, but she'd loaned them to Dawn for the night under pressure of… actually, she'd loaned them to Dawn because she didn't really care.

"Not particularly," said May, returning to her phone. She was texting Brendan, her friend from home. Unlike her, he hadn't chosen to attend the Rustboro Academy. He had chosen to attend the highly prestigious Mossdeep Institute instead.

"I see," said Dawn, turning back to the little vanity. "The rich bad boy type isn't for you, huh? I guess that you're more for the intellectual, _I'm-going-to-do-so-much-with-my-life_ types."

"Brendan is _just_ a friend," insisted May. For the second time that day. The eleventh time that week. Probably the hundredth or so time that month…

"Sure he is," giggled Dawn. May could see her smiling from her reflection in the mirror. "You know Lucas is my childhood friend too, right? That never meant that I'd write him off as a potential boyfriend."

"That's different," said May dismissively.

"How so?"

"Because… you and Lucas are you and Lucas, but me and Brendan are… me and Brendan." And that was the only way May could think to explain it.

"Mm-hmm," said Dawn, clearly unconvinced. "If that's the case, what's wrong with Drew, then? He may tend to look down your shirt a lot, but he's really a nice guy. He isn't the most eligible guy at Rustboro for nothing."

May rolled her eyes. Drew liked to call himself the George Clooney of Rustboro Academy. ( _You can wait all you want for an Amal, but you ain't getting her_ , May thought morbidly). "One, I'm pretty sure he doesn't really like me," she said, holding up her right hand to count on her fingers. "He looks down pretty much every girl's shirt whenever he can."

"Okay, I accept that," sighed Dawn, rolling her eyes. "I've caught him looking down mine, too."

"Double gross," said May. "Anyways. Where was I…? Oh, right. Two. Unlike you, Miss _Everyone-Wants-To-Date-Me_ , I'm not really up to looking for a boyfriend. I'm pretty cool with being single right now."

"Wanting to focus on studies, not wanting the hassle of looking good for a guy, et cetera?" Dawn giggled. She finished with her make-up and stood up.

"Among other things…" Really, May had a whole list of them.

"Arceus, May, you're already a sophomore," Dawn sighed, straightening her dress in front of the mirror. "You're the only girl who didn't go out witih a guy on Valentine's Day last freshman year."

"Mm-hmm," said May. Truth be told, it wasn't because _no one_ had asked her. Drew had asked her, first off, to go grab a coffee. And May would have gone, because she loved lattes, but knew if she went, Drew wouldn't stop pestering her afterwards to go out with him.

There was this boy, Wally, who May shared her History class with. She'd never even really spoken to him before that, but she'd felt really bad about turning him down because he seemed like a nice guy. He didn't seem that disappointed though, because he smiled and asked if maybe she'd want to study with him sometimes instead. May seriously considered it then, since Wally had been getting the highest marks in History, but decided to say no because she totally didn't want to feel like she was exploiting him.

Even Barry had asked her out. Barry was Dawn's other childhood friend. May didn't have any classes with him, but had hung out with him at times with Dawn and Lucas. To Barry's credit though, he didn't ask her out with the intention of dating her seriously. He clearly stated that he only asked her out because he was tired of being third wheel when he hung out with Dawn and Lucas (something May could relate to). He took it in stride when May politely turned him down.

"I don't care…" said May, and she really didn't. She could see the appeal of having a boyfriend (vaguely, _blurry_ ), but didn't really want _or_ need any of those benefits.

"So you say," sang Dawn. "But someone'll knock you off your high horse some time."

"When they come, you'll be there to say 'I told you so.'"

"That I definitely will," giggled Dawn. She twirled around, her skirt flying up around her. "Do I look okay?"

"Do you need to ask me _every_ time you go out? You know Lucas won't think you're anything less than gorgeous."

"You're _supposed_ to say that I look pretty in my dress, and that you're glad you loaned me your tights," said Dawn, placing her hands on her hips. "But I guess that works, too."

"Off with you," said May, turning back to her phone. Brendan had sent her a selfie. It showed him in a really scientific looking lab, with three other guys behind him, smiling. Brendan was the only one without glasses. _Meet my crew_ , read the accompanying caption.

"'Kay," said Dawn, looking one last time in the mirror. "Shall I bring you back a souvenir? Maybe a nice guy who'swilling to put up with your solitary needs? Or a Drew, perhaps?"

"Oh, shut up."

Dawn giggled. "Bye-bye, Atalanta!"

"I bet you don't even really get that reference, do you?" called May.

"Doesn't matter!" Dawn answered back, and she left, giggling.

May sighed. Just then, her phone beeped. It was a message from… Drew, of all people.

 _Hey u shud come over to archens! all ur sorority sisters r here_

May stared at the screen.

She didn't know if Drew was just drunk out of his mind, or if this was a missend. She wasn't part of any sorority (Dawn was, but May could never really remember which one it was… the Lake… the Lake something). And she'd never been to Archen's (a bar which never checked for your ID).

Her thoughts were confirmed when Drew sent a follow-up text.

 _whoops wrong number. Meant to send that 2 maylene sorry bae_

May decided to reply. Just to spite him.

 _This is May. Where exactly do you get off calling me bae?_

She sent it, then waited.

After a few minutes, May assumed that Drew had drunk himself into a drunken stupor and was probably not replying. So, she got off the bed, and started fixing up the closet she shared with Dawn. Dawn had totally messed the whole thing up, looking for clothes to borrow from May (which May didn't get, because Dawn was the only daughter of Frederick Berlitz, a distant descendant of a Sinnoh royal family, and probably had a way better wardrobe that May). May hated things messy – like Drew's neon green hair or Brendan's room.

Once she was done with that, she ended up with nothing to do. She'd lied to Dawn – she was done with her History essay, had done it on the day it was assigned. Partly because she really had a system of trying to do homework as soon as it was given, and partly because Wally had helped her on it (which was totally only because she asked him offhandedly and not because she planned to exploit him or anything).

Bored out of her mind, she lay down on her bed and looked up at the ceiling. It had originally been painted white, but she and Dawn had put up dark blue papering (non-permanent) and had put glow-in-the-dark stars up on it, to mimic a night sky. Since they'd put up so many stars, and they were so small, sometimes it really felt like they were sleeping under the stars. May knew that they'd put up two hundred and thirty-nine stars in all, because she knew how many stars there were in each pack and had counted how many were left, but she liked to stare and count the stars whenever she couldn't sleep.

Her thought process was interrupted when her phone beeped. She checked and found a new message from Drew.

 _i just assumed we're dating already bae_

May rolled her eyes. She regretted not being able to delete her number from Drew's registry. She hadn't even given him her number. Dawn had.

 _Well, we're not._

Her phone beeped immediately, but May thought that the time that had elapsed wasn't enough for Drew to have typed a coherent response. She was right. It was from Barry.

 _Whyyyy didn't you come with Dawn, it's just the three of us here. I thought we made a pact 2 be third wheel together_

May laughed out loud. She typed a quick reply.

 _I have a History essay to finish._

His reply made her laugh even harder.

 _No you don't. Wally told me that he helped you with it and that you're done. You just don't want to be third wheel with me don't you_

Before she could answer, a message came from Drew.

 _Yes we are_

* * *

 **Author's Note:** I'm starting a series. Arceus help me. (also, fuck my retarded ending)

 **History:**

 **.**

 **published July 26, 2015**

 **.**

 **edited July 26, 2015**

 **.**

This is supposed to be Steven/May (not a spoiler, I mean, Arceus, look, they're the two people in the tags and this thing is fucking tagged as Romance), but when I was writing the part where Drew and Wally and finally Barry asked May out, I started to ship Barry/May. GAIS

SHIP

HAS

SAILED

Hahaha no seriously I don't even know but I ship them I probably won't let them get together in this story but I probably might write one for the two of them even though Steven/May is my OFTP (One Fucking True Pairing) and Barry/Dawn is one of my fave pairings hahaha what is wrong with me I'm dong this to myself.

Oh, look. A story that's not about fairy tail. I can finally type a different disclaimer.

 **Disclaimer:** pokemon is not mine. not until I save up all my allowance for like a thousand more years.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Chapter 2_**

"You're a law student, right?" Dawn asked from her bed. She got back to the room way past midnight last night (technically this morning). Lucas had dropped her off, before presumably staggering back to his room. (And Barry was nowhere to be found – May assumed he was off being third-wheel somewhere else, busy doing third-wheel things.)

"Yeah…" said May. She turned a page of the textbook she was reading ( _Procedures in the Presentation of Evidence_ , required reading, boring as mud). Dawn was an English major. She spent most of her time writing fiction and rubbing the fact that her course was much easier in May's face.

"So… do you like rocks or something?"

May looked up. "Say again?" she said.

"Do you like, like rocks? Or caves? Or gems, by any chance?"

May shook her head. "Ask that question again so it makes sense," she said.

Dawn rolled her eyes. She held up a piece of paper, which May recognized to be her class schedule. "Hey, give that back," said May.

"Why do you have Geology class?" asked Dawn. She pointed to a spot on the crumpled paper. "It says so right here – _Monday, 3:45 pm, Geology_. If you're a law major, why do you have Geology?"

"Did you listen at all to the orientation before sophomore year? Geology class is a required class for all courses," said May.

Dawn frowned. "But _I_ don't have Geology class."

"Different courses had it in different years. Law majors have it sophomore year, accountancy majors have it freshman year. I'm pretty sure that English majors have Geology in senior year. At least, I think so."

Dawn puffed her cheeks out and handed the schedule back to May, who immediately tucked it away. "I don't get it," she complained. "Why is Geology required?"

"You really don't listen to the orientations at all, do you?" said May.

"Why should I listen when I know you'll get it all memorized in your head, anyway?" yawned Dawn. It was still rather early. Dawn had only woken up because May had gone out to buy take-out from McDonald's (Fillet-O-Fish. They could eat something more filling and with less cholesterol later at lunch.)

May sighed. "Geology is required because of the founder of this school. You know, Sir Joseph Stone? The guy who was knighted by Queen Diantha II of Kalos? He built this school."

Dawn looked blankly at May. "I still don't get it. Is it just because his surname was Stone? Are the teachers just making a bad pun?"

" _No._ Arceus." Although, May did think that at first, as well. Geology, Stone, it all sounded like a really bad pun that they were still waiting for the students to get. (They already _did_ get it, but it was a fucking bad pun.)

"Sir Stone really loved rocks – "

"Ha!" snorted Dawn.

" – let me finish, shut up. Anyway, he really liked rocks, and Geology was just getting trendy or whatever back then, when all the natural rock formations in Hoenn were being discovered, so he wanted his students to learn about them. So, Geology is required."

"Now, see, if I had know that – " said Dawn, pointing aimlessly into space. "I wouldn't have enrolled here."

"Why, what do you have against Geology?"

"Nothing personal," said Dawn, kicking her feet up and down. Papers started bouncing off her bed, so May signaled for her to stop. She did. "I just don't want to take an unnecessary class. You know, _in fact_ – " she said, sitting up, " – Geology has even less to do with law than with English."

"Mm-hmm," said May. "But that class itself isn't all that bad. They take into account the fact that it isn't really part of our course – except maybe if you were really majoring in Geology – and they just give us a rough outline. Law majors only need fourteen hours of Geology to graduate…"

"And how long is your class?"

"Well… thirty minutes."

"And it's only once a week," Dawn confirmed.

"…Yeah."

Dawn quickly did the math. "That means about seven months of Geology. Boy, they're really trying to stretch it out, aren't they?" she said, lying back down. She picked up one of May's textbooks. " _The Revised Penal Code_ ," she read out loud. She looked over to May. "Is this any good?"

"If you like reading endless lists of articles, then yes. It's a fucking masterpiece."

"Has it won a Newbery Medal?"

"Arceus, yes. The author probably has a separate shelf for all his trophies."

"I can't tell if you're serious or not."  
"Neither can I, to be honest."

A knock came on the door. "Password!" Dawn called out.

"Passwords are for purrloins," called a voice.

Dawn rolled her eyes. "It's Hilbert," she said, by way of explanation to May. Hilbert was Dawn's cousin. He was a junior (in med school, natch) and May was pretty sure he'd dated every girl in the Academy, save for herself and Dawn. (If Dawn hadn't been his cousin, he would've dated her, too. May turned him down when he asked her out over his dormitory's bathroom sink.)

Dawn stood up and moved to open the door. Hilbert was standing there, wearing his standard loose, long-sleeved shirt and tight black pants. He had a blue jacket slung over his shoulder. "Yo, Dawn," he said, smiling. He caught sight of May behind her. "Oh, and… April, was it?"

"Ha fucking _ha_ ," said May. Hilbert knew who she was – she was the only girl to turn him down outright. (Lots of girls would coyly say _no_ , only to give in rather quickly once he laid on the charm.) "Very funny. Well? Who're you dating at the moment?"

"Believe it or not, I've been dating one girl for almost three months," said Hilbert, walking in. "It's a new record."

"Oh?" said May, scooting aside to let Hilbert sit on her bed. There was no sense of anything more than platonic between them. It was like they were cousins, too. "What's so special about the girl? Who is she?"

"Hilda Everett," said Dawn, coming over to sit by Hilbert. He immediately leaned against her legs, and she let him. "A sophomore. She's an English major, too. We have Fiction-Writing classes together on Tuesdays."

"What's she like?" asked May again.

"Pretty," said Dawn thoughtfully. Like she wasn't really sure if she should call her that.

"… I feel like there's a _but_ after that," said May.

Hilbert laughed, a warm baritone sound that made his shoulders shake against Dawn's knees. "That's because you can't really call Hilda _pretty_. She's a firestorm. A supernova. She's what you get when Fourth of July has sex with New Year. A _bomb_. Scratch that. She's _the_ bomb."

Dawn's shoulders relaxed, and she laughed, too. "She's really beautiful," she said. "And she's so… _intense_. Really. She can be too much at times."

"Better for me," shrugged Hilbert. "No one else wants to date her, because she's so touchy."

"Liar," said Dawn. "No one else wants to date her because you'd rip them apart if they tried to so much as sit beside her."

"Ch'yeah," snorted Hilbert.

"Anyways, why are you here?" asked May. She was listening, but focused on her book – she was about to finish the required chapter and she still really wanted to slack off for the rest of the day.

"Red told me that Leaf told him that you were really good at Geology," said Hilbert. He craned his neck to look at May. "I'm here to ask for some notes from you."

"Med school has Geology in junior year?" asked May.

"Obviously. Otherwise I wouldn't ask you," said Hilbert, rolling his eyes.

"Arceus, be nicer to someone you're asking a favor from," said May, turning the last page. She threw the book down and stood up on the bed. "I'm done! Arceus, I'm finally done with that stupid fucking chapter!"

Hilbert turned to Dawn. "You sure this is really the smartest girl in your batch? Like, really, _really_?"

"Positive," said Dawn, non-committal. "And she only likes guys who are at least as smart as her."

"I guess that means I'm a dumb fuck," said Hilbert, laughing.

May jumped off the bed, almost slipping. "My Geology notes are on my desk," she said. She pointed in the general direction. "The white notebook. Make sure to return it by lunchtime tomorrow, okay? I have Geology tomorrow afternoon."

"Sure," said Hilbert, standing up. "I'm going to be copying them later, anyway, so I'll probably have them back later. Oh, right, that reminds me – " he stretched, " – Hilda and I are going to Dairy Queen later. Wanna come?"

"Sure," shrugged Dawn. "I'll bring Lucas." She looked to May. "I suppose you're not going?"

"Like I _want_ to be fifth wheel. Like being third wheel isn't pathetic enough," said May, rolling her eyes.

"If you _had_ a boyfriend, you wouldn't have to be the odd wheel out," Dawn pointed out. "You'd be a happy wheel with a proper axle."

"Again, you're referencing things you don't really understand," groused May. She lay back down on her bed. "You guys go. Oh, but – " she sat back up suddenly. " – I'm going out for lunch.'

Dawn stared at her, eyes wide. Even Hilbert looked handsomely surprised.

"Oh my Arceus," she said. She jumped onto May's bed, landing on her knees. "Oh my fucking Arceus. Who is he?"

May stared blankly at her. "Who is who?"

"The guy you're going to go out with! Your boyfriend? How long have you two been together? Why haven't you told me yet?"

"I don't have a boyfriend," said May.

"Then who are you eating with?" Hilbert asked, coming over.

"My friend, Brendan. He's studying in Mossdeep, but his science group has a field trip in Rustboro today. For a week or so, I think," explained May.

"Oh my Arceus," said Dawn, again. "I knew it. I just knew it. You're _dating_ , aren't you?"

"No," said May. "We're not like that."

"It's just denial and you know it," said Dawn. She sat down by the edge and grinned broadly. "He's so obviously going to ask you out," she sang.

May settled back into her pillow, disinterested. "He won't," she said, picking up her phone.

"But it's like what happens in every lame, cheesy romance story ever," said Dawn. "Two childhood friends moving away from their hometown, then all of a sudden, they meet up…"

"And in the unfamiliar city, in the place neither of them had ever dreamed of going to…" Hilbert jumped in.

"They realize they're the only things in their lives that haven't changed…"

"And boom."

"They realize their own, hidden-for-too-long feelings for each other!" said Dawn and Hilbert in unison.

May actually burst out laughing. "Did you guys just – _ha_ – fucking synchronize?" she said, nearly gasping for air. "How did the two of you know what to say? You were totally in sync!"

"Because we're both right," said Hilbert sagely. "I know a cliché when I see one. Hell, I probably established half the romantic clichés in this school."

May was still in stitches. "Arceus – " she said, still slapping her hand on the sheets. " – you guys are killing me."

"Whatever," said Hilbert. He sat back down on the bed. "Who's this Brandon guy, anyway?"

"Brendan," Dawn corrected him. "May's from Littleroot Town. So's Brendan. They went to pre-school up to high school together, and even though she denies it, they're clearly dating."

"We're not," May reminded her, crossing her arms.

"You _are_ ," insisted Dawn. She stood up and opened their shared closet. "What will you wear? You can't wear shorts on a day date – unless this date will carry on 'till the night? Oh, but, you have this really cute burgundy top and you should only wear that with pants…"

"I'm wearing what I always wear," said May. "Brendan's seen me at my very worst, so nothing I wear now would faze him."

" _Awwww_ ," cooed Dawn. "That's _so_ cute. And you're wrong, by the way. If you show up wearing some totally chic and sexy outfit – for which I shall allow you to rummage in my wardrobe – then you'll definitely, as you put it, _faze_ him."

"But I'm _not_ going to wear some totally chic and sexy outfit," said May, crossing her arms tighter. "I'm wearing what I usually wear."

"Which, you gotta admit, is already pretty hot," commented Hilbert. May's wardrobe usually consisted of shorts over tights, sneakers, and long-sleeved shirts. The main thing she had going for her was the fact that she was naturally curvy, _everywhere_ – bust and butt. Her usual outfit didn't show much, but emphasized _everything_. And it wasn't even her choice. Her mom had packed her entire wardrobe for her, with that exact goal in mind.

"Oh, shut up," said May.

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I get it, May is really sexy, but then my point is that what she wears _always_ covers her entire body. She shows no skin at all."

"And that's bad, how…?"

Dawn made an impatient sound. "Arceus, May. Would it kill you to wear a skirt sometimes? You're wasting your long legs."

May took a peek at her legs. They _were_ kind of long… "I don't care," said May, turning away, and she really didn't.

Hilbert took a quick peek at her bare legs, too. "This is probably the only time I'll ever see them," he said, when May gave him a questioning look. She smacked him on his shoulder.

"Well, whatever," said Hilbert, rubbing the spot where she'd hit him. "I'm leaving. I need to copy your fucking notes." He stood up again. "I'll meet you and Lucas at Dairy Queen later at around three," he said to Dawn. She nodded. "Bye."

"Bye," said May and Dawn. He left.

Once he was gone, Dawn turned back to May. "So, what _are_ you going to wear? I have this really cute floral dress you could _totally_ borrow."

She almost got a headache from rolling her eyes.

* * *

Clad in a long, white, sleeveless tunic, with brown leggings and wooden platform heels (all courtesy of Dawn, who declared she would do everything short of paying money to sponsor their "date"), May felt wholly uncomfortable. She wasn't even used to showing her lower legs, or wearing shoes that showed off all of her toes – whose nails were painted bright red, again by Dawn.

May had drawn the line at makeup, and Dawn had thankfully backed down on the account. She did, however, insist on smothering May's brown hair with something she dubbed leave-on conditioner.

She felt silly, waiting outside the diner – a chain famous for their buffalo wings, called Bouffalant's. Oldale, which was just beside Littleroot, had a branch, but it was nowhere as big as the one in Rustboro.

Brendan had already texted that he was coming, and that they wouldn't be alone for lunch. May had forwarded that message to Dawn to prove that it wasn't a date. (Dawn had replied with " _such cockblocking_.")

"May!" a familiar voice called her. She turned around.

Brendan was walking towards her, along with two guys and a girl. Both guys, May recognized - one of them had longish red hair, and the other had spiky black hair. She'd seen both of them in the selfie he'd sent her yesterday. They both had their glasses on their heads, though, but it didn't make much difference. The girl, May didn't know - she had caramel-colored hair that reached her waist, and a red hat.

Brendan waved. He didn't look all that different - he still had that stupid white hat on, and his eyes were still between blue and green, but he had gotten taller, and - May was surprised - was wearing glasses. They were thin-rimmed, with black wire. Seeing him, May couldn't really help but agree that glasses made people look way smarter.

"Hey," he said, once they reached her. "You look great! But - " he checked her face, " - you look paler than when we left Littleroot." He chuckled. "Haven't been getting out much?"

She rolled her eyes. "I could say the same for you," she scoffed. She pulled on his arm and put it next to hers. "See? You're even paler than me."

"That's because he spends all his time in front of the computer, coding," interjected the black-haired guy. He smiled at May. "Hi. My name's Gold. Gold Ericson," he said, holding his hand out to her.

May took it. "May Maple," she said. She looked at the red-haired guy, but the other girl jumped in. "I'm Serena," she said brightly. "Serena Hendricks."

May shook her hand, too. She reminded her of Dawn - bubbly, cheerful type, wore clothes from designer labels like Elesa or Whitney. In May's opinion, though, Dawn was prettier - Serena had a beautiful face, but she looked like she didn't really know how to use make-up. (May made a mental note to recommend Cynthia to her, if conversation should allow it.)

The red-haired boy still wouldn't introduce himself, and May felt too awkward to try and ask him. Thankfully, Gold stepped in. "And this guy is Silver. Silver Ross," he said, pulling the boy forward. He leaned towards May and spoke in a conspirational whisper. "He's the most unsociable fuck in the entire Mossdeep campus."

Silver smacked the side of Gold's head. "I am not," he said firmly. His voice was deep and cool and serious - even May wasn't that cold when she talked to people. She jumped a little when he turned to her. "It's nice to meet you."

"Yeah... nice to meet you, too," said May.

Brendan seemed oblivious to May's apparent discomfort. "Well, let's go in!" he said.

* * *

"... Well, anyways, we're here on a field trip to observe the Devon company."

May watched as Brendan piled gravy on top of his chicken. She'd been the only one not to order any chicken wings, instead had only ordered a chocolate smoothie. She (and apparently the others) knew that Brendan always ordered way too much at any restaurant and ended up not being able to finish it all. And, whether she liked it or not, May always ended up having to finish what he couldn't.

"Because Devon's like, the science capital of the Hoenn region," said Serena, munching on a french fry. Her long hair kept falling onto her root beer float, so she'd tied it back into a ponytail. May looked at the inordinate amount of food she'd ordered - two orders of buffalo wings, a triple order of chili cheese fries, and two root beer floats.

Serena caught her looking. "Oh, this isn't all for me," she said, waving her hand dismissively. "My boyfriend's with us, too. His name is Calem Hill. When we arrived here at the port, he took one look at the city, and then he refused to come with us. He went straight to go sight-seeing and whatnot."

"Is this the first time he's been to Rustboro?" asked May. She was still watching Brendan, whose eating pace had slowed considerably.

"Yep!" said Serena. "Mine, too. We're both from Kalos, actually."

"Really?" asked May, surprised. "Wow. What made you come all the way here to Hoenn?"

"To be honest, I was supposed to stay and study in Kalos, and Calem was going to study in Unova at the Castelia University," said Serena. Despite what she had said earlier, she had already finished off her order of buffalo wings and almost two orders of chili cheese fries. Either she was just really hungry, or Calem himself didn't eat much.

"But then, a month or so before high school graduation, we received a letter from Mossdeep Insitute," continued Serena. "It was for a scholarship offer. In any case, how could we _not_ go for it? And so here we are."

"Silver and I aren't from Hoenn, either," said Gold, jumping in. He'd finished his food, and was already starting on Silver's fries. The redhead let him - May thought that maybe they had the same relationship as her and Brendan (one orders food, the other finishes it off). "We're both from Johto, actually."

"Johto?" said May. Brendan meekly slid his plate to her, and she started eating the considerable amount of food without a word. "I've never been there, but I've been to Kanto."

"Pssh," said Gold dismissively. "They're like two totally different sides of the coin."

"Kanto's nice," said Silver quietly. He was stirring the remnants of his cream soda. "Viridian City is my favorite city."

"Mine, too," said May, inwardly acknowledging that she might not hear from him again if she didn't continue that conversation. "But more than the city itself, the Viridian Forest is really beautiful."

" _Exactly_ ," said Silver. With a kind of enthusiasm that only comes when you finally find someone to agree with you after so long. "When people go to Kanto, they always say their favorite city is Saffron, or Fuschia city. I've even had a few tell me that they really liked Lavender."

"Lavender?" May wrinkled her nose. "I mean, Lavender's a historical site and all, and what with all its legends, it really is a tourist spot, but then... I don't know, all those channelers who keep haunting the place are spooky."

"Channelers?" asked Serena. "What are those?"

"They're like psychic mediums," explained May. "They claim that they can feel the afterlife, or the spirits' voices. They hang around the tower in Lavender Town because it's a gravesite."

Serena shuddered. "Creepy."

"Right?"

Just then, a ringtone began to play. _Sukida kirai wakannai kirai ~_

May's brow furrowed. "Is that... Vocaloid?"

Serena snatched up her phone. "Kagamine Twins," she said, nodding. She checked the screen. "Hold on, it's Calem. I bet he's lost again or something." She stood up and went outside to take the call.

When she had left, Gold turned to May. "Don't tell me you're another Vocaloid fangirl," he said, snickering. "Let me guess, Kaito? Gakupo?"

"Luka," retorted May. "And no, I'm not a fangirl. My roommate, Dawn, listens to them all the time and it's driving me nuts. You don't know how many song titles I've ended up knowing, and I don't even know Japanese."

Gold smirked. "Says the fangirl."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"May's not the Vocaloid type," interjected Brendan. "She's into classical. Like Beethoven and all that shit. Anything with piano. You know how I have a lot of games, right? When I played those games while she was over, sometimes a really emotional cutscene or whatnot would come on and she'd stand there, in front of the screen, just listening to the soundtrack."

May shrugged. "It was the soundtrack that got me into _To The Moon_ ," she said.

Silver perked up. "You know that game?"

"Oh, buddy, I could talk all day about River..."

Serena came back in, with a tall boy trailing after her. He was very handsome - startlingly so. He had deep blue eyes and pale skin, and even just a glance at his perfect face caused May some level of discomfort.

"This is Calem," Serena said brightly, once they reached the table. She pointed to May. "That's May. The one we talked about."

"Nice to meet you," said May, extending her hand. Was it irrational to feel jealous of this guy's skin? Of his bag-free eyes?

"Nice to meet you," said Calem, taking it. His hand was smooth, too, and his voice - Arceus, don't get her started on his voice.

Gold eyed the exchange. "So, Miss May Maple, how does it feel to meet the guy who's more attractive than, like, eighty-three percent of all the girls on earth?" he said, in an announcer-ish kind of voice.

May shrugged, laughing. "I don't know. You tell me. How does your self-esteem survive in such close quarters with him?"

Gold laughed. "Ha! It's long dead. The only consolation the rest of us have is that he already has a girlfriend." He turned to Serena. "I thank you deeply for taking him off the market, or none of us would ever get dates."

"I try," sniffed Serena delicately.

Calem laughed. "Seriously, guys. I'm not all that," he said. He had already sat down beside Serena, and was picking at the meager amount left after she had eaten.

May mock-squinted. "Arceus, it even hurts just looking at you," she said, pretending to shield her eyes from him. She dropped her hands and laughed. Everybody joined in.

Well, mostly everybody. Silver looked like he was smiling, but he wasn't really laughing. May began to wonder if maybe something was making him feel uncomfortable (if maybe he was being sixth wheel right now. But that shouldn't be the case. They were an even number. May with Brendan, Serena and Calem, and, presumably, Gold with Silver. In strictly platonic senses).

"Anyway," said May, talking mostly to Silver. "Is there anything you guys want to do in Rustboro? There isn't much, really, aside from Devon, and I assume you've all been there, already."

It took a moment, but Silver replied. "I heard there's a museum here?"

"Well, yeah," said May. "The Vanderweiss Exhibit of Archeology. In honor of the founder, Helga Vanderweiss. It's run by her great-great-great-or-so-granddaughter, Roxanne Terra."

"The name alone sounds so badass," gushed Gold. "Like a vampire-slayer. Is it nice?"

"Yeah..." said May noncommittally. "Like the name basically says, it's all for archeology. Only fossils and rock formations. But they have the skeleton of the largest hydreigon in history - that's _Dracenae lucifera_ to you science people - on display, and I think they have the only full fossil of a kabutops. Like, no cracks or whatnot. Totally whole."

The others' eyes had misted over during her explanation and were staring blankly at her.

Silver coughed. "Wow, Brendan. You weren't kidding at all."

Brendan laughed. "What did I tell you guys?"

"What?" May demanded.

"Even I didn't know the scientific name of the hydreigons," said Calem, shaking his head. "And I used to study taxonomy in eighth grade."

"I'm friends with genius girls," said Gold, shaking his head as well. He looked over to Serena. "Well... May's probably smarter than you."

She smacked his shoulder.

"Well, it sounds like you've been to that place for too many times," laughed Brendan. "Do you still want to go there? Or do you already have all the exhibits classified and mapped out?"

"Oh, shut up," said May, avoiding the subject because she really did already know where each exhibit was, and what each wing was dedicated to. (and also because she probably really did go to the museum way too much. She'd already started calling Roxanne by her name.)

"You do, don't you?" asked Gold, laughing. He leaned forward. "Why didn't you go to Mossdeep with Brendan?"

May frowned. "Because I didn't want to," she said. "And it's kinda far. And... I kinda hate the ocean. And... to be honest, I didn't want to go to the same school as Brendan anymore."

"What? You didn't tell me that," said Brendan, as Gold made faces and said, "Owww, _burn_!" behind his back.

May rolled her eyes. "Come on, Brendan. We've been in the same school since we were in pre-school. We were in the same daycare when we were toddlers. We were born one week apart from each other in the same hospital and placed in the same nursery. Don't you think it's about time we had some... um, space?"

"You were together since practically birth?" said Serena, wide-eyed. She looked back and forth between them. "Who's older?"

"I am," said May, raising her hand. "My birthday is on January 31. His is on February 7."

"Ha!" said Gold, pointing. "She's alpha level dominant, bro."

"One lousy week," said Brendan. "Just one lousy week, and I could have been older than you."

"That one lousy week made an awful lot of difference, you know," said May. "I started at the daycare earlier than you, and I was already studying addition by the time you enrolled."

"And that's why she's smarter than you," Gold concluded.

"That's why she's more mature than you," Serena added.

"Why she speaks more eloquently," laughed Calem (seriously? He even had an old English vocabulary? He was seriously way more attractive than eighty-three percent of all females on the living Earth).

"Why she's more... something," fumbled Silver.

Brendan snorted. "Real smooth. Thanks a lot, you guys."

"They have a point, you know," said May. "A guy who still needs help finishing his food can't really be considered mature."

"Boom," said Gold.

Laughing, May watched Brendan sulked. Just as she finished the last of his wings, her phone beeped.

It was a message from Dawn.

 _how goes ur date_

May rolled her eyes and typed a quick reply.

 _Not much of a date considering I just cockblocked Brendan._

Dawn's reply came fast.

 _what did u block him with? ur iron hymen?_

"Who are you texting?" asked Gold, when May laughed.

"Someone who just wants me to get laid," May answered honestly.

"What a worthy cause," he said.

* * *

 **author's note:** I give you full authorization to kill me.

 **History:**

 **.**

 **published October 2, 2015**

 **.**

what the fuuuuuuuuck. How long does it take me to crank these out? This chapter is twice as long as the first one, seriously. Also, I should learn by now _never_ to include character birthdays. I never have any clue when the story is or what date it is or how many days has passed since the first chapter.

I'm not meant for long stories.

(btw yes I'm serious I'm going to be writing May with like 5 different guys here NO LIKE NO READ STEVEN APPEARS IN THE NEXT CHAPTER OKBAI)

 **disclaimer:** pokemon is not mine. not until I save up all my allowance for like a thousand more years.


	3. Chapter 3

**_Chapter 3_**

"I hate peppers," said Dawn, meticulously picking each one off her pizza slice. "Why ruin a perfectly good pizza with _peppers_?"

"Because they add flavor, maybe?" said May, already finished with her slice. Lunch in the cafeteria today was everything-but-the-kitchen-sink pizza, a Rustboro special. Thankfully, food titles here was never too literal, but this was cutting it pretty fine.

Dawn had already taken off most of the toppings, except for the pepperoni, pretty much the only concession she'd make. "How can you _stand_ eating pineapples with peppers?" she asked, wrinkling her nose. Unlike Dawn, May had eaten her pizza just as it was.

"The same way I can stand eating peaches with cottage cheese," said May. "No idea."

"Ladies," said a male voice. Barry and Lucas came up, bearing two slices each. They dropped their trays and sat down, Lucas beside Dawn and Barry beside May.

" _Lucas._ " Dawn sounded appalled."How could you possibly stand to eat _two_ slices of this awful abomination they call a pizza? And you, Barry? Shame on you!"

"Hey, it's pepperoni," Barry shrugged. He was right - both he and Lucas had slices of normal, pepperoni pizza.

" _What?_ " The look of pure surprise made Dawn's face look comical (comical, but comically pretty all the same). "Why is there pepperoni pizza? Why didn't I see that?"

"All the Rustboro natives who study here pretty much finished off that awful pizza," Lucas said. "I suppose pepperoni is their back-up for when they run out."

Dawn groaned. "Arceus, remind me never to come early for Pizza Fridays again."

"Sure, whatever."

May's phone buzzed. Audibly. Even though the darned thing was on silent mode.

"Aren't you going to check on that?" asked Barry, nudging her. His two slices of pizza had gone fast.

"No," May said, rolling her eyes. "Considering the most recent string of messages in my inbox, I'm inclined to believe it's just Drew again."

"Again?" said Dawn, exasperation in her voice Ever since her lunch with Brendan (and his nerd crew, as May kept reminding her), Dawn was fully convinced that May and Brendan should be together. As such, even though she'd been pulling for Drew, she'd had to drop him as that would have been disagreeing with herself (but make no mistake - Dawn was expert at that.) "That boy definitely wants you for more than what's down your shirt."

"What else would he want? What's down my pants, too?" snorted May.

"Maybe he wants you for what's inside," said Dawn, earning a snigger from both Lucas and Barry. She glared at them both.

"Well, to quote you, all that's inside me is my iron heart and my iron hymen," said May dryly. "I don't suppose any boy would be interested in an unbreakable barrier like mine."

"Amen," said Barry, raising his hands up to the ceiling. May hit him.

"Check it anyway," suggested Lucas, still only halfway through his first slice of pizza (so boys were either ravenous eaters or ate so slowly they'd get full before they finished). "If it's Drew flirting, you could send him a snap of Barry's raised middle finger."

"Why mine?" asked Barry, brow raised. "Why not yours? Why not May's?"

Lucas was about to answer, but May shushed them. She had read the text. "It's not from Drew..." she said. "It's from Hugh."

"Oh, _Hugh_ ," said Dawn. "That boy is _so_ cute. It's a shame he's gay. If it wasn't for his boyfriend - Nate, was it? - I'd totally ship the two of you. Also, Brendan."

May rolled her eyes again. She was doing that way too often these days. "He says the new Geology teacher's going to be at the cafeteria today - hang on, what? New Geology teacher?"

"Ah," said Lucas, perking up. "You didn't hear? Sir Byron finally retired. Our Geology teacher, Sir Roark, is his son. We didn't have class with him last week because he was helping his father with the retirement papers."

"Hm," said May, as she honestly had no clue. Miss Jasmine handled their Geology class, and she'd never mentioned anything like this. "So, this new guy's taking Sir Byron's place?"

"Actually, no," said Barry. He was an Economics major, like Lucas. "Miss Jasmine's taking over Sir Byron's classes in the English lit department. The new guy's taking over your classes."

"I - what? Really?"

"I hear it's because he used to be a lawyer," said Lucas. "He's a lawyer, but he's deeply involved with Geology and pretty much an expert."

"Wait, wait, _lawyer_?" interjected Dawn. "Do you think it could be the director's son? Remember, Mr. Stone has a son, and I heard from one of my classmates that his son was teaching here soon. And I already know that his son is a lawyer or whatever. Is it him?"

Barry snapped his fingers. "Right! His surname is Stone," he said. "Like father, like son, I guess. Both of them are barking mad over rocks."

"And like great-great-great-something ancestor as well," said May. "Our director's a full and direct descendant of Sir Joseph Stone, remember?"

"Only you would remember that," said Dawn, shushing her. She started scoping the entire hall. "Which one do you think he is?"

May's eyes fell immediately to the teacher's table. But there weren't any new faces - May recognized them all. "He's not at the teacher's table," she offered.

"Nor at any of the other tables," said Barry, turning himself 360 degrees on his seat.

"Not at the lines, either," added Lucas.

Dawn groaned. "Jeez, you guys, I know all three of you have, like, exceptionally sharp 20/20 vision and shit, but couldn't you have left me an area to scope out? And how did you even know to check separate areas and which area to check?"

"I'm facing the teacher's table," said May.

"I'm facing the line," shrugged Lucas.

"And I like turning around in my chair," said Barry, turning around again for good measure. "It makes me feel like an noctowl, and noctowls are fucking badass."

May was about to jump in, but suddenly, all conversation in the normally loud and bustling cafeteria came to a halt.

You could've heard a pin falling in the silence.

"What the heck?" whispered Dawn, ducking her head. "I've never heard this place so quiet since Miss Agatha scolded all of us for being too noisy last year."

"Ditto," said May. It _was_ weird. She looked around to see what may have been the cause.

It wasn't hard. She found it at once.

Everyone was staring at the man who had just entered the hall. He wore a simple, but obviously expensive black suit, with little steel embellishments that caught the sunlight. His handsome face was no more than twenty, but his hair was steel-gray, and spiked stylishly. He walked with grace and purpose, and every single movement drew the eyes of the crowd.

Despite his elegant walk, he was clearly very uncomfortable with the attention. Little beads of sweat pooled at his brow, and he stopped a few steps from the door, staring back at them all.

"That should be him, right? It's probably him," asked Dawn, whispering conspirationally.

"He looks a lot like our director," noted May.

"Hmm," agreed Lucas and Barry.

The awkward air lasted a few more seconds. Then - when they'd apparently gotten their fill - all the students turned around and resumed their previous conversations as if nothing had happened.

The silver-haired man relaxed slightly, but then appeared to think of another problem. His brow furrowed.

"What's the problem now?" asked Dawn. "Why doesn't he sit?"

He seemed to be turning around him, looking far more flustered than a man of his age should ever look.

"I think... I think he doesn't know where he should sit," observed May.

"I think you're right," said Lucas. "He's kind of standing awkwardly there. Like he's waiting for someone to show him where to sit."

Sir Stone(?) looked around him, hopelessly bewildered, until finally he decided to just leave the hall.

"Aww, he left," said Dawn. "That was so funny. I bet he's never really been to this school, huh?"

"Why wouldn't he have? This is his father's school," said Barry.

"Well, that happens sometimes," said Lucas. "I think he won't be the one succeeding his father as the next head. I hear that since he's the eldest son, he'll be taking over Devon. I'm pretty sure he has a younger sister who'll be taking over the school as the next director."

"What?" said Dawn, eyes wide. "Devon is owned by the Stone family, too?"

"Arceus, Dawn..."

As the others dissolved into inane ramble (fueled mostly by Dawn's apparent lack of common knowledge), May found herself absently staring at the door of the hall.

That young, silver-haired man had looked so clueless as to what he should do.

Well, who would've thought it?

That was pretty cute.

* * *

When Dawn and May walked back to their dorm room (Lucas and Barry hadn't accompanied them - they had a class straight after lunch, while May and Dawn had the entire Friday afternoon free), Drew was standing outside the door, leaning.

"Hey," he said in greeting, as they approached.

"Uh, hi..." said May, cautiously. Wary.

"What are you doing here, Drew?" asked Dawn curiously.

"I was kinda hoping I could talk to May," he said casually, without missing a beat.

Dawn eyed him, inching back towards May. "Oh. Well. Okay, talk."

Drew fidgeted slightly. "Um, I was hoping I could talk to her in private. Alone. Or not even alone. As long as it's not where people can hear..."

"Huh." May was unimpressed. If he was going to ask her, doing it in front of Dawn (who had been one of his biggest supporters in the quest to break down her iron hymen) was just as good a time and place as any. "Then we can talk in our room. With Dawn."

Far from being disappointed, Drew looked kind of relieved. "Oh. Yeah. Yeah, that's a good place. Okay. Let's go." He turned around, and nearly walked into the door. "Ouch. Uh... ladies first, I guess? I mean, you guys have the key..."

May rolled her eyes while Dawn chuckled and took out her key. Though she wasn't really reacting to it, Drew was being awfully tame... What was it? He probably wasn't here to ask her out, then. If he was, he wouldn't have come in person. He would have texted her. Or messaged her. Or maybe left a note on her door. With a poem. (Which was admittedly romantic, and May could admit to that on the rare occasion that he did that.)

When they were inside, Drew laughed suddenly, sounding a bit more like himself. "Well, isn't this an achievement?" he said. "I'm finally in your room. Now all that's left is to get you up to _my_ room."

"Don't hold your breath," said May dryly, sitting on her bed. Dawn sat on hers, and Drew sat down and positioned himself, cross-legged, on the wailmer carpet on the floor.

"I won't," answered Drew. Chuckling. Getting kind of comfortable. On one side, Dawn had got out her bolster pillow and started rolling with it.

"So, why did you want to talk to me?" asked May. "And why so secretive?"

"Uh... because it's kinda embarrassing," said Drew, sheepishly scratching his head. "I'm here to ask if you could tutor me."

"Tutor you?" said May. "Why?"

Drew was a law major, too, but thankfully had no common classes with May. Even so, they shared some teachers. "I'm basically flunking Geology right now. Miss Jasmine... didn't really like me all that much."

May rolled her eyes. "That shouldn't affect your performance in class," she said. "Besides, I don't think Miss Jasmine's the type to let personal stuff like that interfere with her work - "

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," said Drew, cutting her off. "I didn't come here to be preached to, okay?"

May resisted the powerful urge to roll her eyes again and instead crossed her arms. "Fine. Moving on. Tutoring you with Geology."

"Right," said Drew. "You know about how Miss Jasmine's taking over the Geology in English lit, right?"

"Yeah." She'd only just found out earlier, anyway.

"Well, I figure that since there's going to be a new teacher, maybe I could wipe the slate clean and go back to square one. Since he's new, I could make a better impression on him," he said.

"That's actually a good idea," interjected Dawn.

May shook her head, amused. "Arceus, I can't believe it's the same Drew," she chuckled. "Are you sure you're Andrew Hayden? Maybe you're his twin brother, or something."

Drew rolled his eyes. It wasn't often that he did so. Normally, he was on the receiving end. "Well sue me for actually wanting a good grade. It's not something you can relate to, anyway, Miss All-The-Teachers-Love-Me."

"That's not true..." said May. "Miss Claire doesn't seem to like me much." Miss Claire was a Legal Ethics professor from Johto.

"Big deal," said Drew. "She doesn't like anybody. Even though she's from Johto, you know, _Johto_ \- the region of sun and smiles - that woman doesn't like anybody."

"And she doesn't like me," said May. "Which means not _all_ the teachers like me."

"She doesn't count," said Drew dismissively. "And don't be so sure that she doesn't like you. Harley told me that she _never_ calls on you in class, but you still get high marks. If that's not favoritism, I don't know what is."

Harley was May's classmate in Legal Ethics. She was never really sure if Harley was a just a very flamboyant homosexual or a woman born with a man's face. Perhaps a little of both. In any case, she referred to Harley as "he". "Harley twists everything he sees," said May.

"Whatever. So, are you cool with tutoring me in Geology?" asked Drew. "I can even pay you. Or I don't know, treat you to something."

"Jeez, no," grimaced May. That makes it sound like you're exploiting me. Or... something."

"It's more like hiring, actually," piped Dawn. She was lying on the edge of her bed, so May told her to get back. She did. "And besides, it's not like he's asking for sexual favors, is he?"

"Which doesn't mean I won't," stated Drew. "I still plan on you saying yes to me."

"Won't happen," said May plainly.

"We'll see," laughed Drew. He stood up and walked to the door. "Well, we can work out a schedule or something. Maybe after we get a feel on how the new teacher works. His name is Steven Stone, I think." he said, his brow furrowing. "The director's son."

Steven Stone. So now, that awkward and weirdly cute teacher guy from the hall had a name. It sounded so official... it didn't really suit a wildly uncertain guy like him.

"Anyway, bye," said Drew, walking out.

"Bye," called Dawn.

"Mm," mumbled May. He closed the door.

The room was suddenly silent.

Dawn scooted over to May's bed. "Hey."

"What."

"Now that that's over, what do you say you come with me, Lucas and Barry later? We're going to Archen's. You've never been there yet, right? It's totally wicked," said Dawn.

"I told you, I'm - "

" - not interested in unnecessarily being third wheel," finished Dawn. She waved her hand like, _Oh my god, May_. "Arceus May, you should get over that already. You're a sophomore in college. College people don't draw those kind of labels anymore."

"Don't they?"

"Do they really, May?" Dawn groaned. "I mean look, Drew's what you'd label the rich bad boy type, right? But now he's making an effort to raise his grades in a class. That breaks whatever stereotype he's in. Shouldn't you do the same? Meaning acknowledging that hanging out with a couple isn't necessarily being third wheel?"

May frowned. "Arceus... _fine_. If I go this once, will you stop pestering me about my social life? Or lack thereof?"

"I can't not try to get you out," said Dawn firmly. "I'm your roommate, and I have to make sure you thrive in this school."

"Such admirable words."

"You're going?" asked Dawn hopefully.

"Only because I know you won't stop bothering me about it if I don't."

"Damn right."

* * *

Archen's was packed. Full to the brim. If there had been one more person who tried to cram himself into the miniscule space, May was sure the whole building would burst. Not that it stopped people from trying.

"Whoa, there sure are a lot of people," said Dawn, expertly squeezing herself between two people. "Come on, May! Don't get lost on me!"

May couldn't reply, as her face was mashed right between two punk freaks who decided it was a good time to start rubbing shoulders together. "Why the - why the fuck - why did I let you - drag me here - fuck!"

She heard Dawn laugh, audible even over the loud (admittedly good) music. "Because I rock! Now come on! Barry and Lucas are waiting."

How Dawn led them straight to the bar, May had no idea, but in a flash, they were there. As promised, Lucas and Barry were there, in stylish night clothes.

"Hey," greeted Barry. He was wearing one of those gag shirts under his leather jacket. His read, _Looking For Mr. Right? Keep Walking_.

"Hey," said May, sitting beside him. Dawn took her place beside Lucas, who greeted May, too.

"So, I say we start off with some - " Dawn began, but she was cut off when someone approached May. "May?"

She turned. It was Gold. "Gold?" exclaimed May.

"Hey! What a coincidence!" said Gold, smiling. "I never would've pegged you as the bar type."

"That's because she really isn't," piped up Barry. He shrugged when May glared at him. "What? You really aren't."

"Ah," said Gold. "Is this the ol' boyfriend?"

"No," said May and Barry in unison. Behind them, Dawn rolled her eyes.

"Ah," said Gold again. "Good. I'd really hate to be the one to break that kind of news to Brendan."

"What kind of news?" asked Dawn. She extended her hand to Gold. "I'm Dawn, by the way. May's best friend."

"Gold," he replied, shaking her hand. "I'm a classmate of Brendan. I take it you know who he is, or do I have to tell him that May hasn't mentioned him at all to her new friends?"

"She actually really didn't tell me about him," said Dawn, laughing. "I found out about him myself while I was logged into May's Facebook."

"You logged into my Facebook?" said May.

Dawn waved her hand, like it was a way too long story to conveniently tell. "Anyways, guess you'll have to break that news to him. This is Barry, by the way - " she pointed to the said blonde, " - and this is Lucas."

"Hey," said both guys.

"Yo," grinned Gold. He turned back to May. "So, hey, Brendan and the rest of us are actually here too, because it's the last night. We go back to Mossdeep tomorrow."

"Oh, really?" said Barry. "Why are you all here in Rustboro, anyway?"

"Scientific field trip," offered May. "They all came to observe at Devon, I think. That's what they say, anyway."

"Pretty much," said Gold. He looked back and forth between all four of them, returning mostly to May. "So, uh," he began, unexpectedly awkward. "Would it be okay if, uh, you hung out with us over there?" He pointed vaguely somewhere off. "Brendan's been talking our ears off about how he's only got to hang out with you once."

Dawn nudged May sharply, then made a pouty, insinuating face. "Take her," she generously said. "For as long as Brendan needs her."

"Oh, uh - " began Barry, but he quickly stopped.

Gold turned to him. "Yeah?"

Barry quieted down. "S'nothing. I just can't believe that the moment she finally hangs out with all three of us, she immediately leaves me to be third wheel alone."

"Third wheel alone? How so?" asked Gold.

"Well see - " Barry gestured to both Dawn and Lucas, " - these two are lovey-dovey to the highest fucking degree. Me and May are usually stuck being third wheel together."

"That doesn't sound like being third wheel," noted Gold. "You guys are an entirely different pair of wheels all together."

"Normally, yeah," said Barry. "But it gets really tiring and annoying when the two of them get all sweet together and create unnecessary sexual tension between me and May."

"Not to mention pressure to hook up," added May.

"That _is_ a problem," Gold conceded. "And there's a perfect solution. Hook up and get lovey-dovey all on your own. No one left out."

" _No_ ," said May and Dawn together. May looked at her friend.

"What?" asked Dawn. "I ship you with Brendan. I can't have you dating Barry in that case."

"Since when am I subject to your delusions?"

"Since fate acted and put us as roommates," replied Dawn. She turned to Gold. "Take her."

"Actually, I feel like letting her go there by herself and chatting with Barry here," said Gold, grinning. "I've got a long history of being third wheel, myself. Not that I am, anymore. I have a girlfriend now."

"You do?" all four of them asked, in unison.

"That hurts," said Gold, making a hurt face. Barry laughed. "Yeah, it feels like it'd be fun to hang out with this guy," he said. He looked at May. "You'll be okay on your own?"

"Jeez, yeah," said May, but was actually rather surprised at his concern.

"Brendan and Serena and the others are all at the other bar," directed Gold, sitting beside Barry. "The bar for softcore drinks."

"Yeah, _that_ ," said Dawn, rolling her eyes. "They only serve vodka and beer down there. Oh, and water, too."

"Just head straight in this direction and keep walking," said Lucas. "You'll find it right away. It's full of grumbling people who are designated drivers for tonight."

"Hey, who's _our_ designated driver?" asked May.

"We're taking a cab, so we don't have a driver. We have a designated taxi hailer," said Dawn. "That would be you."

"Just because I don't drink..."

"Precisely because you don't drink. Carry on."

May rolled her eyes, unable to retort. Sighing, she took her leave and went off, leaving the four of them together.

The so-called softcore bar was easy to find, because like Lucas had said, it was packed with grumbling people who had sleepless eyes and glasses of water. Likewise, Brendan was easy to spot - he still wore that stupid white hat. He was sitting in a booth, with some other people.

"Oi, Brendan!" called May. He turned around. He wasn't wearing glasses. He was wearing really stylish, trendy clothes, a wardrobe May would never have expected him to wear.

Across him were Serena and Calem, sitting together. Serena had a glass of green liquid in her hand, while Calem had a glass of water. They were looking every bit the perfect night couple, with tight-fitting black clothes and flawless faces. They smiled when they saw May.

"Hey," said Brendan, looking surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Really?" said May, rolling her eyes. "That's what you say to me? And here I was, thinking that you missed me."

Brendan turned bright red. "Missed you?"

"Gold must have fetched her," surmised Serena. She grinned at Brendan. "You _have_ been kind of ranting about how you only got to hang out with May once."

"How would Gold even have known that she would be here?" asked Calem.

"He didn't," said May. "He just happened to pass by me and my other friends."

"Where _is_ Gold, anyway?" asked Brendan, trying to avert the subject.

"He stayed behind to chat with my friends," said May. "He kind of bonded with one of them and decided to stay."

"So he's not coming?" asked a voice behind her. May turned to the source.

It was... Silver? Wow. May would never have pegged _him_ as the bar type. "Silver?"

The redhead looked impossibly cool in a white shirt, black pants, and Converse sneakers. He had a glass of beer in his hand. "Hey."

"Wow," said May, sitting down beside Brendan. He scooted over to give her space. "I would never have thought I'd see you in a bar like this."

"Same for you," said Silver, sitting beside her. "I would have thought you'd still be at that museum or something." His hair was tied in a low ponytail, which somehow made him even more attractive. Like an androgynous male model.

"Ha," said May. "Funny."

Serena had been eyeing the exchange. "You know," she began, "May and Silver look kind of good together."

May facepalmed. "Don't tell me you ship us."

"No, wait," said Serena, squinting. "Wait, not yet, not quite... Yep, I ship you."

"What happened to opposites attract?" Calem asked his girlfriend, smiling.

"That doesn't necessarily apply to everyone. I used to ship Brendan with May because they were both smart, or at least I vaguely knew that May was smart, but now I ship Silver with May because, you know - "

"Because we're both unsociable fucks?" finished May.

"Because you're both unsociable fucks," Serena agreed.

"To the highest degree," said Calem, dryly.

"We have our own movement, called the Unsociable Fuckology," said Silver sarcastically.

"Here's to being unsociable fucks!" said Brendan, raising his glass of vodka.

"Cheers!"

Laughing, May felt tingly all of a sudden. She hadn't felt excited like this, not since she'd transferred to Rustboro (except maybe when she got the highest marks in her batch in freshman year. That was pretty cool). She felt like doing something crazy (cool).

She felt like _drinking_.

"Hey," she said to Silver. "Could you come with me for a bit?"

He took a sip of his beer, his Adam's apple bobbing. "Where to?"

"I'm gonna get a drink."

"Seriously?" His silver ( _oh_ ) eyes were wide. "First the bar, now the alcohol?"

"What would be the point of coming to the bar in the first place?" she said, smiling. "Come on. If we go now we should catch Gold and my friends before they go dancing."

He stood up to let her out of the booth, then followed her as she went off. ("See," said Serena behind them. "Ship." Brendan frowned.) The dance floor seemed less crowded than earlier, maybe because other people had left and gone to make out in a secluded corner. A really weird song was blasting out on the speaker, and May was slightly horrified to realize that she knew it. ( _Looking Hot Dangerous_. Arceus, that song was so fucking weird.)

There was a shock of bright blonde hair at the bar, and May could only assume it was Barry. She couldn't spot Dawn's white cardigan or Lucas' gangly tallness, though.

A crowd appeared to have gathered around him, much to the confusion of May. And where was Gold? She couldn't see him anywhere.

"Why is there a crowd?" asked Silver, standing on tip toe to see through the mass of people. He was only a few inches taller than May, shorter than Barry and Drew and even Brendan. Standing on tip toe didn't make much of a difference to his height.

"They're making a big fuss," said May. The crowd seemed to be composed almost entirely of young men, cheering and whooping. The center of attention seemed to be... Barry?

"What the hell is Barry doing?" said May. She pushed on Silver's shoulder to boost herself up. She could vaguely see Barry moving, throwing something... but what?

"Dude," said someone beside them. "That guy is a fucking beast at beer pong!"

Beer pong?

May pushed herself even higher to see.

Barry was holding several ping pong balls in his left hand, and shooting them with his right. The beer cups were arranged into a complex, almost artistic pattern, and most of them had ping pong balls floating on the surface.

"Beer pong," repeated May. Her toes were starting to hurt from being stood on, but she couldn't stop looking. "Barry is playing beer fucking pong."

"Looks like it," said Silver. "He's pretty good."

He said this just as Barry began to prep his next throw. He threw it with a bit of a spin, so that the ball bounced to the left, then to the right, back and forth until it eventually landed smack dab in the centermost cup. The crowd cheered loudly, as the falling ball created a big, brown splash.

"Pretty good," repeated May.

"Yeah," said Silver noncommittally. "Pretty good."

"Do you mean to imply that you're better?"

"I intend to _prove_ that I'm better."

And with that, Silver pushed her hand off his shoulder, and moved along to challenge Barry.

May might have laughed, but she didn't. Instead she just chose to circle around the crowd and go to the bar for the intended drink.

The bartender was friendly and had a thick mustache, reminiscent of the kindly bartenders found so often in cartoons. He looked very out of place in the club meant for nineteen to twenty-something people. "Wanna drink?" he asked, a strange accent on his voice.

"Yeah," said May. Then, she realized she didn't know any names for those fancy cocktails that Dawn was always ordering, so she chose to do something very stupid - "Hit me with the strongest you've got."

The man raised his eyebrow. "Are you sure?" he asked. He rolled his tongue when he said the sound _r_. "I've never seen you 'round before."

 _What does that have to do with anything?_ May thought. "I'm a friend of Dawn," she said. "Dawn Berlitz."

To her surprise, the bartender seemed to know that name. "Ahhh, Berlitz," he said. "Yes, yes. She comes here very often. Yes, yes. Well then, if it's for Miss Berlitz' friend..." He turned around and started rummaging in the shelf of bottles behind him. "Hmm, hmm... very strong? No, this is too weak. Hmm... Aha!"

He took out a dusty, dark green bottle and a glass. Opening it with great flair, he poured into the glass a strange, green liquid. He took out a weird utensil that looked somewhat like a wide fork, and some ice-cold water. The bartender placed what looked like a cube of sugar on the fork, then held it over the glass of green liquid. Carefully, he poured cold water over the sugar cube, and it dripped along the lines in the fork, dissolving the sugar into the water. The mixture fell into the green liquid, until it became bright green and more opaque. May recognized it as the drink that Serena had in her hand earlier.

"Is absinthe!" said the bartender proudly. "I could whip up something stronger, yes, yes, but let's see you drink this first. Then we talk."

May eyed the glass apprehensively. The green liquid seemed to glow. Was this even legal? "Uh... sure you don't have anything stronger?" she said dumbly.

The man clicked his tongue. "Drink first. If you can handle it, I'll prepare something for you."

May slowly took the glass in her hand, raised it to her lips, and -

"May!"

Barry came over and put his hand around her shoulder, panting. "I fucking rock at beer pong!" he nearly shouted. He spotted the glass in her hand, his eyes glazing over - drunk.

"Whoaa..." he slurred. " _Absinthe_."

"Ah, Barry," said the bartender, smiling. "Looks as if you've had one shot too many."

Did this guy know Lucas by name, too? Just how often did the three of them come here? "You're fucking tipsy," noted May.

Barry shook his head thickly. "I'm _awesome_ ," he said. He pointed drunkenly at the cluster of beer cups. It seemed that, actually, the mass of people was already crowding around Silver. "See that? I fucking nailed it!"

Silver threw the ball straight up, and it bounced squarely on the ceiling - then it fell sharply to the table, bounced, then landed on the rim of the middle cup. It swirled around, before dropping onto the beer cup. "Whoooaaa!" the people cheered.

Barry waved his other hand dismissively. "Ahh, that's not an'thing special," he said. He turned back to the absinthe in May's hand. " _May_ , don't drink that," he commanded. "Absinthe is _yucky_. Hey, hey Hank," he said, turning to the man behind the bar. "Whip up some tequila shots."

Hank chuckled. "Sure thing, Barry." He took the glass out of May's hand and started rummaging in the shelf for tequila. " _May_ ," Barry whispered, as soon as Hank had turned away.

May was surprised by the sobriety in his voice. "You're not drunk?" she said, more startled than anything.

He subtly rolled his eyes. " _No_ , I don't. That's the entire point why I always tag along with Dawn and Lucas. I have to make sure they get home. A job you could _share_ – " he said pointedly, " – if you didn't think about being third wheel all the time."

"Why did you pretend to be drunk?"

"So I don't hurt Hank's feelings," said Barry. "He thinks he has the strongest liquors in town, and he's not wrong, it's just nothing gets me drunk. Speaking of which, why the _hell_ would you order absinthe?"

"I, uh, I didn't _order_ it… I asked him to hit me with the strongest drink he had."

"You _what_?" exploded Barry. He turned quickly when Hank returned, bearing two shots of tequila. "Oh, thanks man," he said thickly, his slurred drawl returning. Hank chuckled and handed them off, before leaving presumably to attend to some other customer.

Once Hank had gone, Barry set the two shot glasses on the bar and turned angrily to May. "You _what_?"

"Don't look at me," May shrugged. "I don't know how these places work."

"The first rule of being in any unfamiliar place is _asking_ someone how they work, someone you _know_ , and not experimenting with Arceus-knows-what and ending up drunk in a gutter!" Barry yelled. Almost, anyway. He rubbed his temples. "Arceus, May, if I'd known that you'd be this… _helpless_ , I wouldn't have let you come here at all."

"Alright, I'm sorry," said May, unnerved. It wasn't like Barry at all to be this… agitated. "Next time, I'll be more careful, okay?"

He looked doubtful, but he let it drop, then took one of the tequila shots and downed it quickly. "You're not drinking anything tonight," he scolded her, when she tried to reach for the other glass. "Not until we've got you educated on bar etiquette and safety protocol."

"Jeez, Dad," May groaned. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"I'm doing my job as a responsible friend," Barry began, but was interrupted by a loud barrage of cheers from behind him. Both he and May turned around to see Silver being lifted off the ground onto the shoulders of people and being paraded around the bar. "Arceus," said Barry, shaking his head. "Those people are deprived of amusement." He turned back to May. "Now, seriously, what are you doing on your own? Didn't you go off to meet with Brandon or something?"

"Brendan," May corrected him. "And actually, Silver and I were going to get a drink."

"Pretty douche-y of him to just leave you to your own devices," said Barry, raising an eyebrow. "I take it he didn't know that you know next to _nothing_ about surviving in bars?"

"I carry pepper spray," said May defensively.

"Fat lot of help that'll do you when you're stumbling on the ground – "

"May!" said Silver, putting a hand on her shoulder. "That was crazy. They wouldn't let me go for anything – oh. Hi."

Barry looked undeniably pissed at Silver. "Hi," he said curtly. "I suppose _you're_ Silver?"

Despite his initial bravado in intending to challenge Barry at beer pong earlier, Silver shrank back. "Uh… yeah."

Barry grabbed May's arm and basically shook her at Silver. "Do you know that shortly after you left May, she went off to order absinthe?"

"What?" Silver's eyes widened, then shot to May. " _May_. Never order absinthe. Arceus, that's probably one of the worst things you can do here short of ordering a Jack Daniels…"

May, feeling very much miffed, shook herself free from Barry. "Jeez, you two are treating me like a kid!" she complained. "I get it, alright? I'm not used to bars. So sue me for making _one_ mistake."

"No, really May," said Silver, looking concerned. "I'm sorry I left you. I just assumed you'd know your way around these places… I never expected that you wouldn't even know how strong absinthe is."

Barry's face softened. "No hard feelings, man," he said, accepting Silver's apology for May. "But I guess we really should keep a better eye on her next time."

"There will be no next time," said May firmly. "You guys are just solidifying my resolve never to go to a bar again."

" _Good_ ," said Barry and Silver at the same time. Then they looked at each other and laughed. "Man, I only just met you a week ago, but I feel strangely responsible over you," said Silver.

"She gives off that vibe," said Barry. "She's so fucking independent in every other way possible, but put her in a social situation and you've got yourself a helpless kitten."

" _Fathers_ ," interrupted May in a scathing tone. "If you're done fussing over me, may I please go home? This night has been one thing after the other and I'd rather go to bed than deal with all of this."

Barry rolled his eyes. "Fine, I'll take you home," he began, but May raised her hand to stop him. "No. If you take me home, who's going to take care of Dawn and Lucas? If I know them, they're both drunk out of their minds by now," she said. "I can get home by myself. Take care of them."

Silver looked dubious. "It's pretty late," he said. "I think you should have someone go with you."

"Yeah," said Barry. He thought for a minute, then turned to Silver. "Hey, man, do you think Brandon might mind if he went home with her? Just to make sure she doesn't get kidnapped or anything?"

"Brendan," corrected May and Silver.

"Right, Brendan," said Barry, waving his hand. "I don't really know the guy, but if he's been friends with May for forever then he should be cool with taking her home, right?"

"Actually, I don't mind doing it myself," said Silver. This is actually the most that May had ever heard Silver talk. Here in the bar, he seemed a different person than he had been back at Bouffalant's. "I was meaning to go back to our hotel sooner or later, anyway. Rustboro Academy's on the way to the hotel we're staying at."

Barry sighed in relief. "Great, thanks, man," he told Silver. He looked at May and frowned slightly. "May, I'm probably way off-base, what with all my worrying, but I just seriously want you to be safe. Dawn and I may have been friends first, but you're just as important."

"Gee, thanks, Barry," said May, but secretly she was a bit flattered. It wasn't often that Barry ever got sentimental or anything. "Should we go, Silver?"

"Hang on, let me just text Brendan," said Silver, whipping out his phone. After typing a quick message, he put it away. "Yeah, let's go."

"Be careful, you guys," said Barry, leaning on the bar table.

"Yeah, yeah," said May. "Thanks, Barry."

"No problem. Don't get raped."

"Wow, thanks for the vote of confidence."

* * *

Once they were outside, Silver hailed a cab. "To the Milotic Inn, please," he told the driver. "Could you stop over at the Rustboro Academy along the way? My friend's going to drop off there."

"No problem," said the driver, and in a bit, they were driving away.

While it had been easy to stand in silence at a loud night club, the silence in the cab was increasingly awkward. May sat a bit farther away from Silver, staring out the window. The redhead seemed to be in no mood to make conversation either, so the only sounds came from the weak radio on the dashboard.

 _What a fiasco_ , thought May. What a real awesome way to make a fool of herself. Hey, it wasn't _all_ her fault. Everybody else had assumed that she'd know her way around a bar, when she hadn't even _been_ in one at all.

"Hey, I'm really sorry about what happened in the bar," said Silver, jolting May out of her thoughts. "I seriously thought that you knew what to do around bars."

"It's fine," said May. "It's fine anyway, since Barry came just in time before I drank absinthe. Besides, you couldn't have known that it was my first time going to a bar."

"I should have guessed it from the way Brendan described you to us, though," said Silver, chuckling slightly. "He made you out to be this super studious person who'd never do anything fun unless completely necessary."

"He made me sound that bad on purpose," said May. "He could never get over the time that I told his elementary crush that he still wets the bed if he sleeps alone."

Silver chuckled, but before he could get a word in, the driver pulled over in front of the iron gates of Rustboro Academy. "Well, this is where I go, I guess," said May. She took out her wallet to get some money for the fare, but Silver stopped her. "No, it's fine. I'll pay."

"Are you sure?" said May doubtfully, but Silver was already ushering her out of the car. Before he could close the door, though, May stopped him. "Hey," she said. "Um, could I get your number?"

Silver stared at her. "Uh, what?"

"To keep in touch," said May. "You guys are leaving for Mossdeep tomorrow, right? Brendan told me so. I forgot to ask you for your Facebook name – hey, I'll text you so you can save my number, okay? Then could you give me Serena, Calem, and Gold's numbers, too?" She took out her phone to write down his contact details.

"Oh," said Silver, looking oddly relieved. "Yeah, sure." He told her his number. "Text me with your name, so I'll know it's you. I'll send you their numbers when I can – hey, why don't you just ask Brendan for their numbers, actually?"

"Because he'd think I'm stealing his friends," said May, rolling her eyes. "Trust me, it's actually happened." She put her phone away. "Thanks for seeing me home," she said. "See you, I guess."

"Yeah, bye," said Silver, smiling slightly. He leaned back into the seat as May closed the door for him, and the taxi drove off.

When he left, May stood there, silent.

Then finally, she did something she'd been aching to do since the night began.

She sighed.

* * *

 **author's note:** sorry not sorry (ducks) okay I'm sorry

 **History:**

 **.**

 **published November 23, 2015**

 **.**

somewhere along the way of writing this I developed _complete_ and _utter_ contempt for my writing ability, and then I just stopped. It's a bad habit and I'm trying to break it. _So_ much has happened between this chapter and the last chapter, tears shed, sweat dripped, blood lost and brain aches, and then I saw this sorry little document and finished the fuck out of it.

I promise guys Steven's going to get laid in the next chapter

okay maybe not but he's going to actually have some lines THANK ARCEUS

also damn I basically put all four guys in one chapter Drew, Barry, Silver, and Brendan. Sorry Brendan you little ho I haven't given you much screen time with May but don't worry I have another fanfic for you. Also Barry and Silver i'm sorry but you'll never be canon with May anywhere else but my poor little heart

 **disclaimer:** pokemon is not mine. not until I save up all my allowance for like a thousand more years.


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